Michael Sills

A Lithuanian Cookbook for My Irish Wife Michael Sills

Everyone has experienced that fresh baked cookie smell and thought of some cherished family member or friend. The author's goal in writing about ethnic food is to have the reader experience the same thing. For the author the smell of ethnic dishes like Kapusta (cabbage) Soup or Kugela(is) (potato pudding) isn't the smell of cabbage or potatoes that is memorable but lunches at his grandmother's house with his family, a welcome break from work at the family business next door. One problem in accomplishing this goal is that the extinction of ethnic foods in this country has been ongoing since WWII. Families with less time to prepare traditional meals fled to the supermarket to get the fix'n for the their meals, some already prepared and needing only heating. The author sought to identify popular Lithuanian dishes and publish them in modern recipe form with standard cooking units. The author and several relatives and friends shared recipes and the memories of cherished family members and events of the past. The book traces the lives of two families from the arrival of the author's grandparents from Lithuania in 1904 and membership in the Holy Trinity Catholic parish in Hartford, CT. through a depression, two World Wars, the Vietnam War and the 60's all the way to present day. The book describes these historical events and the resulting changes in the family fortunes including the family food heritage. The result is the best of his family's Lithuanian recipes and all the laughs and tears that went into them.